Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Long Ass Post

This is going to be a long post because I’m going to cover two events in one post. One, the second day in Vegas where I hit my Royal Flush for 800.00 and two, I’m going to cover the Boathouse party which was an experience.

Vegas Day II and III:

I walked into the room about 7:00 am to get some sleep for the next day of poker. There was going to be some football and boxing going on so I was rather excited. Not to mention, from the Mandalay you can kind of catch the two while you play poker and watch the TV at the sports book. I know, I know, you are supposed to concentrate on the game at hand. So I woke up at 10:00 am and headed to the poker room. Only in Vegas can you sleep for three hours and feel ready for another full day of poker.

I was sitting in the six seat when the two seat hit a straight flush on me to win the accumulated jackpot worth 400.00. I wasn’t mad at the old man, because I seen him as a calling station and I knew soon enough I would have those chips in front of me. Then the six seat hit a four of a kind on me for another 500.00 buck jackpot and I wasn’t mad, I knew my time would come. I had only lost a bit at this soft table.

THEN THE HAND

I’m in the six seat and limp in with 10sJs. I don’t tend to play this hand but it was a calling fest so I figured that I could play this hand. The only problem is that every one folded except the Eight Seat. So there is only like seven dollars in the pot. I’m hoping for a Jack to hit…three Jacks if possible…nope…the flop came: QsKsAs. I HIT THE ROYAL FLUSH!!! Now how to get some money in the pot as one can only take it down when you have at least 20 dollars in the pot. I check and the 8 seat checks. Turn is a rag and I look over at the lady and say, “you might have me beat but I need to find out.” Then I fire out 8 dollars and she raises to 20 bucks. As you know, I suck at no-limit - I was just sitting here until something at the 4/8 game opened up. I call. I put her on maybe A-10 or something of the sorts. The turn is a rag and I check and she fires out 50.00 and I ponder and ponder. I’m not sandbagging, I’m just trying to get her all in someway. I play strong and push all in and she quickly calls with QQ. I flop my ROYAL FLUSH and she smiles and says good hand…but I think she is in shock. I contain my excitement and ask what the prize for the Spade Royal was…600.00 bucks plus what I won in the hand…Sa-weet!!! I was quick to win another all-in race and I’m up about 1,000.00 in a three hour period. They come up to me again and ask if I still wanted to wait for another 2/4 game…things were going good at the no-limit table so I didn’t want to leave. Then I lost a 150.00 dollar pot and I’m gone to the 2/4.

I was a bit in shell shock after the Royal to be honest. I think it’s like the third or fourth I’ve ever gotten so it was nice. I went after playing poker and purchased some nice Italian shoes. I figured I needed them for work.

The General was off with friends from LA at the Venetian so I just hung with myself. It was fun and relaxing and I met one really cool couple that was watching the fight and we started talking and having a few drinks together. Young couple from LA who are Mexican…heehee! Yes, we are clannish. I also saw some people from UCLA and chatted with them for a bit. It was a nice night and one that wouldn’t stop there.

I went back to playing poker and met up with The General and we headed to the Wynn. We were sitting with a bunch of locals who talked and talked. Then the dealer started to talk and talk. I didn’t even want to be there so I told The General I was out….after I lost my 100.00 buy in of course. Then I went back to the Mandalay and played for a while then I just crashed out at about 6:00 am.

Sunday:

My last day in Vegas and I had a lot on my list of things to do. I put some money on my Cowboys, which was my only football bet. I then went to the Cabana to get some sun. I had forgotten how hot it gets out in Vegas. Seriously, it hurts. I then decided to walk around the strip a bit and ended up at the Monte Carlo’s single deck blackjack table. I was happy to take a seat for 30.00 bucks. Since The General had won a nice amount of money I decided to do give it a try. The General had left on a plane back to NYC so I was solo and had nobody to guide me. I was on an island all by my lonesome…shed a tear for the kid. I hit and hit again…then I hit again…I was up and was trying to find a way to walk away. I finally found that point at 130.00 bucks…sa-weet.

I then took off to the Bellagio. I played at the 4/8 table and ended up like 140.00 bucks in 45 minutes. Yes, it was a run I was on. I was happy at the final results for the weekend as I came out like 1,000+ up.

In closing, I wanted to thank John “The General” Lee and Big F for the weekend. I had a blast and hope I get the invite for the following year.

BOATHOUSE:

Mike and I speak about how we are going to meet to hit the Boathouse. These conversations are funny in NYC. It’s like your aren’t 100% sure it’s going to happen but you are sure. Phone conversation:

Me: So how do I get to your pad?Mike: Catch the N or F train to Park SlopeMe: OKMike: Get off at such and such a station and walk up three blocks and turn left.Me: See you tomorrow!Hang-up

I pick up John “The General” Lee at his place and we are off to Park Slope. We get to Mike's place that is awesome because the elevator opens up into the living room…very cool in my eyes. The General and I hit McDonalds for breakfast and we are off. The ride is smooth and I take note of the racket the V-Bridge has in charging people 11.00 bucks to get to Staten Island. What a rip off. I yell FOUL…but the V-Bridge doesn’t raise its hand in showing that it’s committed the foul. Reminds me of the 80’s Celtics.

We make small talk and poker talk until we get to the Ghost Town…I mean the Boathouse. We arrived 10 minutes before anyone. Eva and the crew got there soon enough with Blood and Otis. Sorry, but I get confused when people call these guys by their names. So we are off to the back to help the house set up a bit…nothing big, just spreading out chairs. But when moving the pool tables I catch Mr. Sangre (or Mr. Blood) sitting at the bar eating. Geez…we needed a guy with guns and he was sitting eating.

We are standing around and Mike says, how about some cards. Then Otis says, I can do that and the cards are in the air. I’m sitting at the table with: The General, Mike, Bobby Bracelet, Steve, Otis, Blood and Helixx and myself. I suck at no-limit so when Otis raises the question…what are we playing? I quickly say, HORSE. I figure I can play most games o.k. I suck at no-limit, which was being played at the other table with Pauly and the crew, I figured I would be o.k. here at the 2/4 table.

Off the bat there are yells and screams coming from the other no-limit table as the ladies lay the smack down on the boys. I see Derek, Pauly and Spaceman get out of their seats for a little walk a few times. I figure bad beats and that’s why I hate no-limit. Nuff said.

Al is walking by here and there and I can tell he’s not impressed with the poker action taking place until I see him lurking and I yell, “STRATTLE!” his ears perk up like a deer who has just heard a mountain lion roar.

I proceed to peck away (I stole that from Otis) at people’s stacks here and there. When Omaha was being dealt I was kind of excited. After all, Bobby Bracelet was at my table and last time in NYC he seen me go on Tilt in this game. I think he felt really bad about last time and looked at me with some pity. Nonetheless, I was ready this time and won a few hands here and there. I know, I know, everyone can learn from BB about how to play poker, after all, he was in the WSOP. But in all seriousness, the one thing I learned from BB (besides to bet five bucks on him…never doubt the power of the junk…heehee!) is that you have to fold a lot in Omaha, and only start with premium hands. So when I seen BB in an Omaha hand I folded…not always, but most of the time.

I try and learn even in friendly games and the one thing that really got me was the read that Blood had on me. The whole day I couldn’t shake him on getting a read on me. I have to really review my look or something because he just had it all day. I’m not sure if it was the expression on my face, but it really bothers me just writing about it. I suppose there are just those people that you have a read on. Every single pot that I had a good starting hand that I was going to raise he would fold. I don’t know, he just looked over and seemed to know what my bet was going to be. And as much as I hate to say this, I think The General knows when I'm BSing, too.

Otis had a good read on me, too, but he loves to gamble and just needs to see the cards. Plus, it’s hard for people to go down in limits and get away from hands I’ve noticed. The reason is that when you are playing 30/60 how can you not say, “ahhhh 4 bucks more won’t hurt me in a 2/4 game, I can get that pot back in one bet at 30/60.” But yes, I did crush Otis in one Stud hand. I had two pairs and both my pairs were live and I had a flush draw. Thus, I couldn’t lay it down, so when I hit my full-casa on the river, well…that’s poker.

I really enjoyed tossing the cards with Helixx…does that guy ever stop smiling? Serious, he was just cracking up the whole time and it was great sitting next to someone who was just having such a great time. I was hitting cards and he mentioned that he didn’t like sitting to my right, next time you can sit to my left, buddy.

I had a few beers and then I had to get up from the table. I don’t like to drink and play so F-Train took my place and he was already flying high. The Jack and Cokes (in the huge glasses) started to go down like water on a hot sweltering humid day in NYC.

NUFF SAID!

In closing, I’m glad that everyone knew that this night was about the fundraiser. I know several bloggers who purchased a lot of tickets with their wins and losing stacks. I wanted to thank EVERYONE in Philly involved with event. And the people of PA are just good people with good hearts. Everyone I met was really cool for talking to a drunk guy like myself. Also, if you are ever looking for some MILtF go to the local WAWA!

AL: Thank you for everything! Even leading up to the event you made sure that everything was in order on my behalf. Thank you so much for your hospitality and if you ever want to come to the city you have a spot at my place. See you in AC sometime soon. And don’t forget….GOOOOOO COWBOYS and ARSENAL!!!!!!

EVA: Thanks for keeping an eye on everyone and making sure everyone was enjoying their time at the Boathouse.

BIG MIKE: I think everyone has said so many great things about you. But I don’t think that anyone has said you have a heart of gold. Thus, I will use that one. I had such a great time hanging at the Boat and next time I’m going to pick-up the bill…No matter what you say…check out my guns and you will agree.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Wrap Up Coming

There is so much to write about. My second of three days with John “The General” Lee in Vegas. Then there is the whole Boathouse experience, which was good until the Jack and Cokes caught up to me at the end of the night…wasn’t pretty. Not rare Rooster form…but something close.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Long Post

So much to write about so here we go.

First, wanted to point out that there is a new Rooster of the week. I’ve been a little slow on updating this so I’m sorry to all of you interested in the Roosters. I will continue to post updates and photos on the Rooster world. Oh, you have seen this type of PURE GREY COCK on this site before. This is what they look like when they are fed too much…haha!

Second, I wanted to mention the poker tournament going on tonight for Pauly’s birthday. I will probably be playing in this although not 100% sure due to company visiting me this week. Here is the information…oh, thank Iggy for putting this together and don’t forget to sign-up through his site. Info:

Third, don’t forget to visit Bill Rini’s site. He has all the information on the WPBT tournament in Vegas. I’m sure this gathering will be a blast and I can’t wait to make the trip again. So much to write and talk about this and I can’t cover it here in my blog so visit Bill Rini (link to the right). But here is the general information:

Blind structure is being worked out but they have been open to structuring things, as we would like them. Buy in would be $50 + $5 (dealer bonus) + $10 (juice) or $50 + $15 for those who are mathematically challenged.

Bob has us at the $29 / $39 rates ($29 weekday, $39 weekend). You can go ahead and make reservations by emailing Bob Cohen with the following info:

1. Mention Bill!!!! Tell him that you’re part of his group. This is a special rate so Bob needs to know you’re not some dork just trying to get a cheap room.

2. Give Bob the following info:· Full Name · Address · Phone number · Birthday (he’ll have a player card waiting for you when you arrive and bday is required for player card sign ups) · Dates you wish to reserve · Preference of two double beds or one king · Preference of Smoking or non-smoking rooms

Bob’s email is the first letter of his first name and then his full last name @ ImperialPalace.com

In closing, some small points:

1. I will be at the boathouse for Al’s party this Saturday. Has anyone else had problems reaching Al’s site as of late?2. Visit Pauly’s site if you want to see who’s play poker around the world…he’s covering like 3 championships in two weeks.3. Maudie’s niece is hot…sorry Maudie…but go check out the picture.4. Speaking of pictures…Iggy has some of Jessica Alba that are…Sa-WEEEET!5. Can’t wait to have a drink with my homie Derek this weekend. Make sure and hit his site when you get a chance.6. For the latest efforts to help those of Katrina don’t forget to visit the Fat Guy.7. Urgarte got engaged!!!!!

Friday, September 16, 2005

Las Vegas pt. I

Every year John “The General” Lee takes a trip with fellow friends to Las Vegas for opening week of the NFL. Myself, I tend to regulate myself to the local bookie at the bodega and tell him, “100.00 on my Cowboys”. He laughs and tells me they suck to quit betting on them. I tend to roll over the money over for the following week and just put 20.00 bucks a game until the season ends.

This year The General decided that I should attend with him so I booked a flight some time ago. I called Grubby asking what games would be good and so forth. In any case, I didn’t know that Bobby Bracelet and the Almost Gay guy were going to be in town or else I would have made an effort to play at the Castle more.

What can you say about The General…he hooked it up again with the room. We were at the Mandalay Bay in a huge room with a nice view of the city. Nuff said. If The General is reading…thanks homie…I owe you.

So I got there early in hopes of sitting and getting some good poker in. The first day was fun and I ended up 150.00 ahead at Pauly’s favorite place…The Castle. This was due in part to getting to spin the wheel. Grubby would have been jealous, but I owe Grubby because if it weren't for him I wouldn't have known that the wheel is double. I was yelling for it to hit the one triple spot because they I would have got to spin again for six times the money! I ended up hitting 40.00 which ended up being 80.00 not bad for a spin of the wheel.

I wanted to play the stud game they spread there so I went and took a seat. Soft table and I was able to run over the table for the most part, but it was low stakes and I wasn’t winning much because they don’t ask you to post a blind there…thus, pots were only like 3 bucks or so. All I had to do when a face card was showing was bet the max…even if I had junk under everyone would fold. I did this for about an hour and I ended up like 30 bucks up but it wasn’t fun and I only won one big pot. I was out and I went back to limit.

Games at the limit table were soft but it was fun playing none the less and I was getting rather loose and I went back to Stud after a couple of hours of no-limit. I sat at a table with everyone being over 60 years old…it was awesome. No action what so ever but the people were funny as hell and all friends and there to have a good time.

Went to eat dinner at the Hard Rock where some guy who was on Iron Chef was the head cook. In any case, it was cool because he came out to our table but to be honest, he was rather uninspiring. But the food was good and as a foodie it was cool to meet someone that competed on Iron Chef America and won. The General wasn’t impressed with the food…I thought it was o.k. Then again, I’m never a harsh critic for food… I just like to cook and eat.

Then off to Ghost Bar or something like that on top of the Palms Casino…I’m awful with heights so it sucked. But the crowed was o.k. and we ended up meeting up with John’s buddy from the city who is cool. Drank like fishes and broke out to gamble and found out we suck at Craps. Off to play poker at Mandalay until 8:00 am and I did o.k. there.

Then we went and ate breakfast and back to the room to crash…continued next post.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Random Post

I got to play at the Chinatown Club last night. They were having some problems with their email so they only got a handful of us who signed up. We decided to run a ½ no limit game. I think you should go read High on Poker for the details. He is linked in my blogroll. Yes, it was uneventful for both of us…nuff said.

STAR SIGHTING: I caught a glimpse of Pauly today. Yes, that’s right…we ran into one another in a fucken city of only 8 million. Pauly looked like he had been awake writing all night long. He didn’t look like crap…he just looked like he was seeing sun for the first time in about two days…the eyes were adjusting to the light. It was good to see Pauly and it seemed like a million things were going on in his head. Looks like there will be no Pauly going away party since he’s so swamped with work. Nonetheless, good to see Dr. Pauly walking down 42nd Street with the tourist. Here you go Pauly…hopefully this will make you laugh and get away from that computer for a bit: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=whitlock/050901

The bloggers continue to post great places to donate money for Katrina. I suggest you go check out their sites and pay them a visit.

I wanted to also post that the Chinatown poker room has got their email up and running so they will be having another $25.00 tournament tonight. Tonight the food of choice will be Chinese…go figure. I suggest you go read High on Poker for his view on the club…first rate write up and the club is the same. I will be playing tomorrow nights tournament so hopefully you all will be able to make it tonight and tomorrow night. I will be posting their weekly schedule here tomorrow. The brothers who run the place are really nice so I suggest you hit this location when you have the chance. All the money made from the tournament is going to the winners so the club makes no money off of these. They just want good people to stop by and have a good time.

If you want to purchase a piece of Spaceman go check out his blog. I think he has one more piece of him left for the US Championships at the Taj. I will be playing in the stud events there so make sure and email me if you might be lingering around so we can meet up and have a beer.

Don’t forget to visit Al’s site about the upcoming Boathouse event. If you can make it for a visit it should be cool. As you all know, Al can throw a party…check out his site and he's promosing to fly out models from L.A. for the party...haha!

In closing, hope all is well and so much to do with this blog. I hope all of you are doing well.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Seven Points

I have some random points to make.

One, I will be playing tonight in the 25.00 dollar buy-in at the Chinatown poker club. For those of you that want to pay a visit let me know. I’m still trying to get in touch with Dr. Pauly to see if we are still on for Thursday. If any questions about this tournament just read below.

Two, many bloggers continue to post great ways in which to help the hurricane victims. Oh, don’t forget about my Mexican folk who got wiped out during the hurricane. I know, I know, everyone suffered…I agree and I hate to put a race spin on things because it’s about humans more than anything else at this point in time. Yet, the media is now making this a black or white thing…let’s not forget the immigrants who work in the kitchens and clean those casinos on the daily. They lost everything. Nuff said.

Three, I have added some new names to my blog-roll so hopefully you will pay some of those guys a visit.

Four, go check out Fish Soup…he just won a nice tournament here in the city…his link is to the right in the blog-roll.

Fifth, go check our Dereks blog. He’s now writing for a gambling site and is writing some cool stories on cool topics. Such as, “Is Poker a Sport”…I need not tell people the difficulties in sitting for many hours with a bad back and keeping my concentration on the task at hand.

Sixth, don’t believe Iggy that there are Fish on Party Poker…they are what we call in the boxing world…sparing partners. You get to beat up on people and call it practice for when you sit down with solid players. Bonus Code: SmallPerson...oh, sorry...bad joke, Bonus Code: IGGY!

Seventh, make sure and join Al’s Boathouse Party at the end of this month. What can one say about this festival. Beer and SoCo and tons of it. Nuff said. I think some special guests will be showing up.

In closing, hope all is well in the poker world and this might be my last post for a week…unless I get a confirmation from Pauly…then I will be posting about his going way bash.

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Randoms on a Sunday

This is just a post with some random points.

1. Fellow Bloggers are taking to posting tons of good places where and to whom you can donate money to. Check out the following people’s blogs who are listed on my right: Fat Guy, Iggy, Pauly, Maudie and Al. I tell you…these people and their hearts never cease to amaze me.

2. I also wanted to point out that Fat Guy has started a RV crusade to those in need. Here is what he had to say:

Please consider donating, for long-term use, your idle RV or travel trailer. We are opening our park to our good neighbors from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama who have lost so much in Hurricane Katrina. We have RV hookups available for their use, but we don’t have RVs. Your donation can make all the difference in the world to people who are looking for a place to call home for a few weeks or months as they sort through the aftermath. It’s absolutely crucial that we all work together to help out our friends and family. Please email (info@buckbrazos.com) or call (254-898-2825) if you’re able and willing to help out. We can help make arrangements for getting your RV or fifth-wheel to our place. Buck loves to drive.

I really do hope some of you can help in some way, shape and or form. His contact information is in the paragraph above and his blog is in my blog roll.

3. The Chinatown Poker room will be postponing their Monday $25.00 dollar tournament. This isn’t a for sure thing but it’s a probability due to the holiday.

4. We might be having a going away poker party for Pauly at the Chinatown club on Thursday. I will keep you posted on this but we will probably have the private room and everyone can play in the tournament first then we can start our own private game. This party is because Pauly will be leaving to cover various poker events in Europe. I’m not even going to mention, that he’s leaving us when our boys in pinstripes need him most down the stretch…cough!cough!

5. Last point. Go read my homies Derek’s blog…his link is to the right. He blew the doors off of Phil Gordon and this is why I always tell Derek that he should go Pro.

In closing, once again if you can help those people in the south in any way, shape or form that would be great.

Friday, September 02, 2005

September 5th through the 9th there will be the 25.00 dollar tournaments taking place at the Chinatown Club where I won my Plasma TV.

What does the 25.00 dollars get you?

First, it gets you all kinds of free food. I’m sure they will be mixing it up in terms of choices, but the last time I was there it was Chinese and Sandwiches. With a nice mix of soft drinks and red bull to go with it.

Second, you get entrance into the tournament. I felt they gave plenty of chips and the blinds moved up at a good pace. It’s not an all-in fest like some tournaments can be. To their credit they gave time to play at each level and weren’t too strict with the antes being pumped up with the blinds. I liked the structure myself.

Third, the prizes rock! I’m not too sure about them giving out a plasma this time. But they are going to mix it up a bit here. I know they are toying with two options at this point in time.

1. Winners get a paid entrance into one of the 300.00 buy-in at the Borgota.

2. I’m not sure how many of these will be paid out for each tournament at this point in time but once I get that information I will get back to you (I hope it will be for 1st thru 5th or something of the sorts).

3. I’m not totally positive about this but I’m sure they are also going to give you some stuff to wear to promote their club if you win a slot (of course no address will be on this stuff…haha!).

4. Also they might have a suite at the Borgota for their winners to stop by if they want to relax during breaks and so forth.

This place is a class act when you think about it. What club in the city wants to do that for their winners who buy in for 25.00 dollars? If you can point me to one club then I will pay your buy-in to one of these 25.00 dollar events.

NO

I was there when the floods hit Santa Cruz County. I was there when the big quake hit Northern California (actually I lived five minutes from the center of the quake) and I was there when the big quake hit Southern California. I was literally across the street when the planes hit the twin towers. But nothing, and I mean nothing compares to what I have seen on TV. My positive thoughts and prayers go out to those who are trapped without water, food or electricity. I’m speechless.